Xtamers: New Mutants
by Count Dantes
Summary: Four years after the adventures of the Digimon Tamers, things have begun to get strange. The team is split apart and they discover that they possess abilities of their own, much like their partners. Will they be able to control them? Tamers/X-men X-over.
1. Ch1  Wildfire

HLJ

_Author's Notes_:

I'd like to welcome all of you to the first, in what I hope to be, a long series of stories posted on this profile on .

I'll start with the standard disclaimer: "I own neither Digimon, nor X-men: Evolution." If I did…I'd…own it, I don't know, I could rant on this for a while, but you want a story.

So, I offer you this story, and a warm invitation both to review it and to visit my page sometime. I can't launch a beta-profile at the time of this posting, but I'll gladly beta-read some stories if you want an opinion. (To see my preferences/rules, please visit my profile page.)

_Now, on with the show_: (Cue cool theme song)

_*Note_: This story takes place after the end of Tamers. The events of Runaway Locomon did not occur in this story.

New Mutants – Wildfire

_Four years…it's been four years since we defeated the D-Reaper and the Tamers said goodbye to our Digimon. And that was only the beginning of what was going to happen in our lives. See, in one night, our world was turned upside-down faster than when we received our partners. For three days the world knew of us, knew of our battle with the D-Reaper and how we had "saved the world." But then we blinked, and like a shadow when you shine a light at it… their memories were disappeared._

_Only a handful of us remained, unable to believe that the world had simply forgotten, I mean, cities were still in ruin. We didn't know how. Even Yamaki, with the resources he could muster, which were very few considering the reason for his job was believed to have "never existed," couldn't discover what the cause was. Everyone who hadn't had pretty much direct contact with a digimon themselves…just forgot they existed._

_But that was before we found out about the Mutants. Humans with powerful abilities, some powerful enough to make people forget the living nightmare they had just gone through with the monstrous program that ravaged the world, thinking they were doing everyone a favor. But we couldn't just forget; we had far more of a connection. And I think that's just what happened, but hey, what do I know, I'm just a kid._

_It's been four years, and I managed to keep track of a little bit of the others' personal lives. Takato and Kazu stayed pretty much the same, still hung around at their old haunts, a few members short. Henry and Kenta were called away to a fancy "Institute" in America, Xavier something or other. Jeri's family ended up having to move due to problems with her father's business…she had been improving since she came to terms with Leomon's death, but no one's heard from her in years. As for Rika, well, she seems to have split ties with the others for the last few months, keeping mostly to herself since Henry left. And Ryo, that dashing charmer, he did what he does best, get called away. Where, they didn't know. He just disappeared._

_It's the end of summer though, and change is in the air. So I'll leave you to see just what happened in the lives of the Tamers. _

_Simply…_

_The Wanderer_

vvvvv

"So you really grew up around here Henry?"

The blue-haired teen had been watching out of the window of the car, lost in memory, and the question caught him off guard. He turned to his travelling companion, an older, red-haired girl known as Jean Grey.

"Yeah," he replied, subconsciously adjusting the black gloves he wore, "I can't believe it's almost been a year. Things haven't changed as much as I'd thought they would."

"So where are we supposed to, like, find your friend?" asked the other occupant of the backseat, a 'chipper' girl, about Henry's age. Kitty had literally begged them to come when she found out they were travelling to Japan.

"Kazu said they were hanging out in the park today at Guilm…" Henry stopped himself abruptly, silently chastising himself for almost saying the saurian-digimon's name. "At a place where we used to hang out." he corrected.

"Just let me know where to left you off Flashbulb," came a growling voice from the driver's seat.

"Right there Professor Logan," said the boy, pointing to where a small concrete path entered the trees. The man began to move through traffic, while Professor Xavier turned to the boy.

"Remember that if you run into trouble just use your communicator," said the older man, "There's a chance the Brotherhood may have noticed our repeated returns to this city."

"So what," said Kitty, "Could they even get here if they knew?"

"The Brotherhood has far more reach than you'd think," replied Professor Xavier, "To underestimate them would be a mistake."

"Your stop," said Logan, stopping the car next to the path.

"Thank you Sensei," came the reply as the boy climbed out, before he was quickly followed, Kitty phasing through Jean and out the door.

"I'll go with him," said the girl, "It might help to have backup if Lance and the others show up."

"And a chance to see the city," said Professor Xavier, tapping his forehead lightly.

"That's not fair," she pouted slightly, but smiled when she saw the matching one on the Professor's face.

"We may be able to enjoy some sights afterward," said the man, "But remember, Takato is our main priority." The pair nodded and Henry shut the car door, watching as Logan fought his way back into the traffic.

"They'll be this way," said Henry, walking into the shadows of the park, his teammate and friend following.

_A few minutes later…_

The pair finally found themselves at a set of concrete steps, leading to a small shack. The rust covered gateway was open and the pair began to ascend when…

"Henry!" came a shout from above them, and a form jumped out of the bushes. Without thinking, the boy shifted to the left and brought down a hand on his assailant, knocking them to the ground.

"Ow."

They heard laughter and turned to see another boy emerge from the bushes. The chuckling boy was taller than Henry, with brown hair that was drawn into little spike, visible above a visor hat. He was actually muscular in appearance, wearing a sleeveless t-shirt and shorts.

"Kazu," said Henry with a smile.

"Dude, you might have knocked Chumley out cold," was the boy's response as he looked at the form on the ground.

"Don't tell me," said the teen. His "assailant" was Takato Matsuki, the person they had been sent to find. The boy groaned and got up from the ground, rubbing his back as he looked at him.

"You got faster," the boy groaned, as Henry got the first look at his friend in almost a year. Takato had grown his hair longer, and it now curved down his head, with red stripes now contrasting the brown of his hair. His physique seemed to show the boy had been following Kazu to the gym, but his attire remained similar to his favorite style, a hoodie and slacks.

"Sorry," said Henry, rubbing his head, "I've been training more than usual at the Institute."

"So you told him we were coming," he said to Kazu.

"Not a word," replied the boy, "It's one of his…_gifts_." He made air quotes as he said this last word.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me," he said to Kazu, before turning to his old friend, "You should have seen the story he concocted to get me here," said Takato with a smile, before trying to imitate his friend's voice, "_The world is full of mutants. You're one of them_."

"I was telling the truth Chumley," said Kazu, his voice flat…as flat as it could get with the boy.

"Yeah right," said Takato, before noticing Kitty for the first time, "Is this your girl…"

"Dude," interrupted Kazu, "You shot a fireball!" Takato immediately stopped talking and turned to his friend.

"What?"

"Yesterday in Gym," Kazu said to Henry, "He was pitching and he literally threw a fireball. Lucky I was catching or someone might have thought it wasn't a trick."

"So let me get this straight," said Takato, his tone guarded, "I threw a fireball, and you caught it and weren't burned at all. Have you thought about this story?"

"Chumley," said Kazu in a serious tone, "I want you to watch carefully." He held up his right hand, the back facing his friend. It was silent for a moment before metal plating, rust red, passed out of his sleeve and covered it, forming a gauntlet that the boy now flexed, offering to his friend.

"Is this a trick?" asked Takato, tapping the metal and hearing a solid sound back.

"No," said Henry, stepping forward, "It's like Kazu said, we're mutants. That's what the Xavier Institute is. They recruit people like us and show us how to control our powers, to protect ourselves and others, like…" he glanced back at Kitty, "Like the old days."

"Is that what caused this?" said Takato, whispering to his friend, "We just all get mutant powers now instead of digimon?"

"I have a theory on why we have these powers, but I'm still figuring out some things. But our powers do definitely seem to correspond to our partners."

"_Man, I am like, so the odd one out here_," thought Kitty, leaning against a tree as she watched the three talk.

"Are they ever gonna stop talking?" asked a voice next to her.

"I don't know Lance…Lance!" said Kitty, turning and seeing the boy resting, leaning on one arm against the tree.

"Really?" said Henry, as the group had heard Kitty's shout and turned to see.

"Yep, now get ready to have your world rocked," the boy than lifted a hand, his eyes rolling back into his head. Seconds later, the ground began to rumble and shake and the group had to focus on even staying standing.

"I'm up," came a quick voice, and the ground stopped rumbling. Seconds later a green-blue _blur_ shot into the group, leaving Henry and Kitty flat on the ground.

"So which one of you is the new mutant?" asked the boy known as Lance, as the blur continued to spin circles around Henry and Kitty, neither of them able to get up.

"Better question, what are you supposed to be?" was Kazu's reply.

"We're the Brotherhood, and we're the mutants who get to use our powers however we want," he answered, "No rules or fancy schools."

"I heard about you," said the boy, "Apparently you can't win a battle for all that 'lack of rules.'" This was followed by a green flash as the blur was knocked over, revealing a white-haired teen wearing a skin-tight outfit and Henry holding up an ungloved hand, which had two green stripes on it, both glowing like a neon sign.

The ground began to rumble soon and Takato blinked, only to see Kazu, red armor covering his body, moving forward, his heavier weight enabling him to move close enough to leap forward and tackle the boy, stopping the movement flat out. Takato then sensed the speedster had gotten up and then, his vision lost focus, as if he was staring down a long tunnel, before finally disappearing…

vvvvv

Henry and Kitty had managed to get back to their feet just as Quicksilver did. However, they all had to immediately drop to the ground again to avoid a large fireball that shot directly over their head. Henry looked to see a sight that brought back memories of his tamer-days.

Takato now stood almost crouched, his eyes a golden color and his pupils reduced to slits. A feral growl seemed to emanate from the boy and he locked eyes with Pietro, a fireball appearing in each hand.

"Try and catch me Sparky," said the boy, running a circle around the fire-wielding teen, watching as he tried to turn fast enough to follow him. The feral mutant apparently had enough and simply began lobbing fireballs after him, producing a smoking circle behind the boy.

"This is getting too hot for me. I'm out of here!" said Quicksilver as Takato began to get more accurate, one fireball missing him only because he stopped dead in his tracks. The boy took off in a blur as Takato leapt at the spot where he was.

"Pietro!" called Avalanche before looking around and running off after him.

Sirens began to fill the air, as the smoke coming from the battle appeared to get someone's attention, but that was not what held the X-men's. True to his partner's rage-modes, Takato may have lost sight of their enemies, but he still wanted to fight, his vision colored red. He slowly advanced toward the pair before a pair of rust-colored arms caught him in a bear hug, lifting him off the ground with augmented strength.

"Easy Chumley," said Kazu as he felt his friend thrashing. The group retreated in the trees as the sirens got closer, Kazu carrying the still struggling mutant, before he went limp.

"What's going on?" came Takato's voice, shaking with the up-down motion.

"I'll explain later," was Henry's reply as Kazu flipped him onto his shoulder and kept running, not wanting to lose any time…

The teens finally stopped when they had gotten far enough away to not hear the sirens, and they sat down, panting. Kazu's armor disappeared with the sound of grinding metal and he fell back, looking up at the sky.

"Is this what they have you do in America?" he asked Henry with a laugh.

"How long could you do that?" Takato interrupted before the boy could answer.

"Turn into the Metal Wonder," said Kazu, "I've been working on it for months, it happened about the same time as Henry here."

"Then why weren't you called to this 'Institute'?"

"Honestly…" started Kazu, "We decided to spy on you. Wait to see when you gained an ability too."

"Excuse me…" interrupted Kitty, before Takato could respond to this revelation, though the temperature did seem to increase slightly, "Can anyone like, tell me why no one seems to care about what just happened?"

Kazu and Henry stopped, realizing just what she was saying. Takato had literally pulled a Guilmon, going into some kind of strange "battle-rage" and they hadn't even cared. The memory of the saurian-digimon was still burned inside them…and they were just…used to the quick rages. Meanwhile Takato had simply blanked, not having a clue what she was talking about.

"What do you mean?" asked the boy, "What happened?"

"You went feral dude," said Kazu, "You scared those other two away like it was nothing."

Takato fell back to the ground, his mind flashing back to his digimon partner. He could easily remember the good times and adventures, but the bad times remained fixed in his memory as well. The "rages" when Guilmon first digivolved, the loss of himself in battles, and even…Megidramon. That was what Takato remembered of the dark side of his tamer days, and he had really gotten those attributes from his partner, than he could cause serious damage to people around him.

"You're worried it might happen more frequently?" asked Henry, reading his friend, "Well, that's part of what Professor Xavier does at the Institute; he helps us learn to control it. I mean, I wear gloves because my hands glow randomly; and there's another X-men, Scott, he can't take his glasses off without blasting whatever's in front of him. But the Professor is teaching us how to control our powers, so we don't hurt anyone."

"Do you really think he can help this?" asked Takato, loosely cupping his hand and feeling it warm, almost as if fire was waiting to come out.

"He can help," said Kitty, "I used to wake up in whatever room was beneath mine when my powers first appeared. But now, it's like, easy as walking."

"Come on, I guarantee the Professor can help," said Henry.

"It's better than being stuck around here," said Kazu, "I can't wait to go. Free trip to America."

"Then I guess I'll do it," said Takato with a slight smile, seeing his friend's points, "…But how am I going to explain this to Mom and Dad?"

"That's what the Professor is doing right now," said Henry as they got up, "In fact, we should be heading to your house soon if you want to pack."

"Awesome!" said Kazu, as they began to walk toward the boy's house, "Now Henry, can you tell me more about this Blackbird? I can't wait to get a ride…"

vvvvvv

"I can't believe you just bailed on me!" Lance growled at his teammate.

"Hey, you weren't the one who almost got toasted!" snapped the boy right back, noticing that the ground of the airport had begun to rumble as they made their way toward a thin staircase. However both were far more aware of the piercing stare of their shape-shifting leader from the door of the private jet it led up to.

"I see you're alone," said the woman, tapping a heel in her main illusion, the principal of Bayville High.

"You could have brought the rest of the team," said Pietro, "We were outnumbered and the kid was a psychopath."

"We've lost Rogue and we haven't gotten a new mutant yet," said Mystique to herself, but loud enough so that her "students" could hear, "I wonder why I don't just do these things myself."

"You wouldn't have gotten him," said a voice with a laugh behind it, coming from the top of the plane. The group looked up to see only a shifting shadow, before a form reappeared on the wing, within easy sight of them all.

The figure resolved to be a teenage girl, with hair the same color as the shadows, pulled back into a loose ponytail. Her attire was simple, a purple t-shirt and worn-out jeans, hidden partially beneath a brown trenchcoat.

"And why is that?" asked Mystique, sensing the girl was going to give them more than just a speech.

"Takato will go with his friends," she replied, "He would have ended up with them even if your boys would have won that thing they called a fight."

"Hey!" stepped up Lance, only to get a clicking noise from Mystique, causing him to stand and seethe.

"I assume you came here for more reasons than just to tell us what they did wrong," said the woman, adjusting her glasses.

"You're right," replied the girl, "I heard that you're recruiting."

"I believe we may just have a position for a lady of your skills," said Mystique, motioning to the door of the jet, "Let's talk, Ms…"

"Nonaka," said the girl as she leapt from the wing to the stairs, landing perfectly, "Rika Nonaka."


	2. Ch2 Darkfox

HLJ

_Author's Notes_:

I'd like to welcome all of you to the second chapter of X-Tamers.

Here's the standard disclaimer: "I own neither Digimon, nor X-men: Evolution."

Again I offer a warm invitation both to review this and to visit my page sometime. I can't launch a beta-profile at the time of this posting, but I'll gladly beta-read some stories if you want an opinion. (To see my preferences/rules, please visit my profile page.)

_Now, on with the show_: (Cue cool theme song)

New Mutants – Darkfox

"_Henry_," thought Takato as he stumbled through the dark, keeping as silent as possible.

"_Okay, just think_," Takato said to himself, calling up memories of his partner, "_What would Guilmon do here?_" Closing his eyes, which made no difference in the pitch black environment that surrounded him, the boy breathed in deeply, still feeling like an idiot when he used this power, until he smelled something different.

"_Found you._"

Takato ran toward where he had detected the scent, his mind so focused on finding his friend that he barely dodged out of the way of the hanging turret's blast. Barely getting a second to rest, Takato was up again as the turret tracked his movements, firing a round every couple of seconds and leaving him running a zigzag pattern as he continued to where he had sensed his friend.

"_This is getting on my nerves_," thought Takato as another projectile just grazed him. He cupped his hand and felt it heat up, before light filled his vision and he hurled the fireball at the turret's blinking heat sensor. The blast rocketed through the air for a moment before making contact and lighting the room with the ensuing explosion, leaving Takato just enough light to see his friend lying on the ground only twenty feet to his left, and the twin turrets that now activated between them.

"Focus," Takato said to himself as the blinking lights traced his movements, a fireball forming in each hand, "And…go!" He ducked the blast of the turrets and launched his attack, running between the two machines as they erupted in smoke and flame. He made it the Henry and turned the boy over, before the room was flooded with light, revealing…

…The Danger room was covered with broken turrets, smoke pouring from most over them, at least all that weren't hit by their own paintballs and forced to shut down during the simulation. Takato sat down gasping as Henry sat up, this was their tenth time through the simulation, and Takato had finally made it through without going berserk and requiring the simulation to end.

"Good job kid," came Wolverine's voice over the loud speaker. It was now nearing midnight and the rest of the Xavier Institute had retired for the night.

"Thank you Sensei," said Takato, trying to rise but falling back down.

"You two can turn in for the night," was the reply, "I'd run some more tests just to be sure, but the Professor doesn't want you two sleeping through school tomorrow."

"We have to go to school here too?" Takato asked his friend, somehow the entire concept having slipped his mind over the chaos of moving to the Institute and getting settled in.

"I can always run the Simulator a few more times if you'd rather stay home…"

Henry looked to see his friend had managed to dash from the room in those few short seconds, and moved to follow him, laughing as he remembered his first few "training sessions." It was time for Takato to face his next challenge…an American Public High School…

vvvvv

Meanwhile, the jet containing several members of the Brotherhood and their newest member had landed and the group was now pulling up to the boarding house they called home.

"Welcome home," said Mystique, before turning to Lance, "Please get Miss Nonaka's bags from the back." The boy let out a grunt and muttered under his breath as he went to the task, still apparently steaming from Rika's earlier comment about his fighting, and possibly the fact she didn't help despite obviously being there.

"So can I expect to meet any other _personalities_ inside," asked the girl as she climbed out, clutching a satchel to her side.

"We have two others," said Pietro in his ever hyper voice, "Fred Dukes, big guy, we call him Blob, and then there's Todd "the Toad" Tolanski. He's…wait, what's wrong with you?" The group turned to see the girl had frozen in her tracks, and seemed to be seething with rage.

"Tolanski," said Rika, getting a nod in response, "…Is his mother Evelyn Tolanski?"

"Yes, she is," said Mystique with curiosity, "Do you know them?"

"Oh, we just need to have a little chat," said through gritted teeth, before pushing past them.

"So are all these Japanese mutants psycho, or…" asked Lance, before they followed her. The group stepped into the main hall of the building, and that was when their teammates decided to welcome them.

"I thought you guys were finding a guy mutant," said Fred when he caught sight of the girl.

"Who cares," said Toad, landing in front of her, "And what's your name?"

"Yasuo Orikasa," said the girl in a flat tone.

"Well than…" the teen stopped mid-sentence, his eyes turning into a glare, "What did you say?" Everyone could begin to sense the tension that had built up in the room, making it hard to breath.

"Do you know the name Yasuo Orikasa?" she said with a deliberate pause between each word.

"I knew him," spat Toad, "What's that have to do with anything."

"Look in my eyes and answer that."

Toad stared into the two violet spheres, his memory recalling them from somewhere. It took a moment before it clicked, and he immediately had to dodge out of the way of her fist.

"He was my father!" yelled Rika as she chased after him.

"A little help guys!" shouted Toad as the girl chased him around a corner and out of sight. He leapt back into the room and dodged behind the Blob, who caught Rika as she came back in.

"Calm down," he said as he held her in a bear hug. The only response for his arms to lighten as she reappeared and swept his feet out from under him, sending a rumble through the house, before she continued her pursuit of the boy.

"Stop it, both of you!" said Mystique, now returned to her blue-form, as she stepped in between them, speaking with enough authority to cause them to freeze for a moment, "I will not have a team at each other's throats. Now what is the meaning of this?"

"Our mothers were friends. Everything was fine," said Rika, staring at the boy, "Until she stole my father!"

"Hey, I didn't like the guy either," spat Toad back, "He left us as soon as he got bored."

"Enough!" said Mystique, "Neither of you are responsible, so don't bring your personal problems here!"

"Fine," said Rika, taking her bag and storming up the stairs, not caring where she went at that point.

"That was scary," said Blob, rubbing his head where he had hit it on the wall.

"Hey Toad," said Pietro, with a hidden laugh in his voice, as he heard the sound of a slamming door above, "If her dad married your mom, doesn't that mean she's your sister?"

"I don't want to talk about it," said Toad, walking out the front door and disappearing into the darkness.

"This is gonna be interesting," said Lance, before beginning to hoist the two suitcases he held up the stairs. He entered Rogue's former room and saw the duffel bag unzipped on the bed and the window open, their newest member gone.

Vvvvv

"Why did it have to be him?" asked Rika, now lying on the roof of the house. "Renamon." She looked down at her D-Arc, the device clutched firmly in her hand. It might seem strange, but she still talked to the device, hoping that her partner could hear her, that maybe someday she'd get a reply beyond a blank screen.

She'd met the boy a couple times when she was around four or five. Their mothers were in the same business and had become friends after some pageant or something, she couldn't remember, she didn't care. Then, they had found out that she had an affair with her father. He divorced, remarried, and she hadn't seen him since. Rika didn't know whether that was her mother's doing or whether the man just didn't care, but it was still hard for her to balance that thought with that image of her father pushing her on the swing, the two laughing without a care in the world.

"Renamon, why am I doing this?" she asked, "I wish you could hear me. I miss you." She then simply stared up and into the moon, remembering the way her partner had done it just four years ago…

Vvvvv

"_This is kind of easy_," thought Takato as he joined his friends. He had made it through the first half of the school-day without an incident, and was now taking a lunch break outside. He took a bite of the food he had bought and…

"Ughh," he let out, before choking slightly. He saw Kazu and Henry laugh at his expression, before he scraped the food into a hole at the base of the tree they were sitting under, preferring to take his chances with eating the plate. He thought that lunch-lady had looked like the one from his elementary.

"Here," said Henry, handing him a sandwich from the bag he carried, "We just wanted you to know why packing your lunch is a good idea on Mondays."

Kenta had been with him in the last period, but had run off at lunch. Henry said it was because he had a girlfriend, but Kazu had just burst into laughter at that. That was until they saw the boy sitting at a lunch table with a smiling, laughing, actual girl.

The group now sat under tree, talking about how the day had gone for each of them.

"So, has anyone seen the new girl yet?" asked Kazu.

"No, but Kitty mentioned her," said Henry, "She said she's really quiet…and that Toad disappears whenever he sees her."

"Toad's one of the Brotherhood guys right?" asked Takato, before the ground shook slightly beneath them.

"Speaking of which," said Henry, turning to see the four teens standing a few feet away.

"We want a rematch," said Lance.

"It's the middle of school Lance," said Henry, "We're not going to fight you here."

"Oh, not now," he replied, "Tonight at the old factory. You know the place."

"You mean where Blob got his butt handed to him?"

"Easy," said Lance, placing a hand on the massive boy's stomach to stop him, "Remember."

"Yeah, that's the place," said Blob, "Just show up before we make you." The group turned and left, leaving Henry and two confused teens.

"So…does this happen a lot?" asked Takato.

"A decent bit," answered Henry, "But it keeps them from fighting where they could hurt anyone. They just want to beat us so badly." He said this last part shaking his head softly.

"Well do we tell the Professor, or…"

"No, he understands," said Henry, "But we'll take Kurt and Scott just in case they have any traps waiting."

"So do think you're up for it?" Kazu asked Takato.

"Let's do it," he replied, adjusting his goggles and rising.

"Chumley," said Kazu, as the boy began to walk away.

"Yeah?"

"They said tonight."

"Oh." The group then burst into laughter, unaware of the figure who had been listening the whole time.

Vvvvv

"So…where are they?" asked Cyclops, peering into the surrounding darkness through his red-tinted visor. The group had flashlights, but they did little to help in the giant structure.

"Why don't we get some light," he said, turning to the team, "Bolt, go with Nightcrawler." Henry removed his gloves, revealing his hands that shined with a green glow, before grabbing the blue mutants shoulder and disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Takato and Kazu had had a quick tutorial by Scott on the various mutants' code names around the Institute. The X-men figured it was safer to use those when out on missions, except for Jean, which, when Takato asked why, thoroughly confused everyone in the room. But the two had "earned" their own code-names after their training in the Danger Room, and they were fine with them.

"Okay, so you're sure this is where they said?" Cyclops asked Takato.

"Hen…I mean Bolt said this was the place."

Before Scott replied, a bucket clattered across the floor and the group tensed for action, shining their flashlights to reveal…

"Hey, can you like, point those somewhere else?"

"Shadowcat?" exclaimed Scott, before there was a loud click and light filled the room with a hum.

"I heard you guys at lunch," she said, as Kurt and Henry reappeared. The group could have probably gotten into a lively discussion about this, except that was when the Brotherhood chose to appear.

"About time you found the lights," said Toad, leaping from a small walkway to the floor, "We've been waiting half-an-hour for you."

"Six to four, we have you outnumbered Lance," said Cyclops, offering them a chance to back out.

"No big deal," said Lance, shrugging it off, "Except you counted wrong. It's five on six." He pointed up with the last part to another walkway that ran above them. Sitting on it was a figure dressed in a brown trenchcoat, with black hair that was pulled back into a ponytail.

"That's the new girl," whispered Kitty, before the Brotherhood attacked and they split to fight them.

"You missed," said Avalanche, as he ducked beneath a shot from Cyclops. The boy then rose as threw his right hand forward, sending a shockwave through the floor that he had to jump to the side to avoid, still almost being clipped by the rising floor boards.

"Let's try this again," said Quicksilver, as he ended up facing Takato and Henry, beginning to circle them.

"Can you control it this time Wildfire?" Henry asked as the pair was drawn closer and closer together, using his friends code-name.

"Let's get some breathing room," said Takato with a nod, before lighting a fireball in each hand. Henry's hands glowed as two small energy balls appeared in them, before the pair shot in each direction, causing Pietro to dodge or else get hit. The pair then shot off in different directions, and their opponent chose to chase Henry, while Takato stumbled over a loose cable and got an idea.

"Get back here!" Toad shouted as he followed Nightcrawler, the pair bouncing off the walls throughout the building. Finally, Nightcrawler paused in front of a door and Toad saw his chance, leaping down at him with a kick. The blue mutant bamphed out of the way at the last second however, and Toad was left to crash into the floor. As he rose to his feet and aimed a wad of sticky-spit at the passing Cyclops' back, Shadowcat phased through the door behind and slammed a bucket on his head, resulting in a disgusting noise and a terrible moan.

That seemed to leave only Blob, who was now in a test of strength against Kazu, or as he was code-named, Android. It was creaking metal versus flesh as both were wearing themselves out.

"A little help?" both of them shouted. Quicksilver changed from facing Henry to help his teammate, only to trip over the cable Takato pulled up in his path and go flying…directly into Blob, sending the two crashing to the floor.

"Hey Dark," Avalanche yelled toward the ceiling, "Now would be a good time to do something!" The girl had barely moved since the battle had begun, and the X-men finally took notice of her.

The girl simply stood up, and vanished in a shadow, leaving Nightcrawler to hit only the walkway as his surprise attack failed. She reappeared on a broken piece of machinery, leapt and crossed her arms.

"_This seems familiar_," thought Takato, Kazu, and Henry almost at the same time, before tiny points of light began to gather in front of the girl.

"Duck!" they shouted as they recognized it.

"_Good job_," thought Rika with a smile, before she launched her attack, the light solidifying into small diamond fragments and soaring through the air. They now impacted only the wooden floor thanks to the tamers' quick thinking; however they were not quite focused on that.

"Rika?" said Takato, as the girl touched down on the floor.

"Good guess," said the girl, "You didn't forget about me when I was the only one left in Japan."

"_Oh man_," thought Takato, in the chaos of moving and discovering his powers, he actually had forgotten about her.

"Sorry, but I…Look out!" he shouted, as Cyclops sent a blast of energy her way. Rika vanished and reappeared in front of Takato.

"Thanks," she said, before sweeping his feet out from under him. She sent another "Diamond Storm," as her partner would say, at the others, causing them to drop for cover. However, her attack clipped one of the support beams, which caused the corroding metal to fold and topple, sending a screech through the entire building.

"X-men, move!" shouted Cyclops, as the Brother began to run as well, the roof beginning to crumble into falling pieces above them. They ran back the way they had come, well, at least most of them did. Toad still had the bucket stuck on his head and was still stumbling around the room, and Kitty had gone back for him.

"Kitty!" shouted Nightcrawler, as he saw the girl phasing through falling rubble to reach the teen. She could get there safely, but she would at least have to become partially solid to help Toad, and that roof section above them did not look like it was willing to wait for them to move before it fell.

He teleported over as Kitty grabbed ahold of the boy, and the roof chose that moment to begin its plummet. He reappeared and grabbed the pair, just as another pair of hands did. There was no time to think and he focus on teleporting outside…

Kurt saw a strange sight this time as he bamphed. Time appeared to slow, and he felt Kitty and Toad seem to lose their tangibility for a moment as he saw a glimpse of strange rock formations, looking like jagged satellites, before the group reappeared outside the factory, as the structure collapsed in a heap of twisted metal.

He pulled away just in time to see the Brotherhood's newest member, _Rika_, Takato had called her, yank Toad toward the rest of the Brotherhood by the arm. He saw the others waiting and ran with Kitty toward them, the groups both vanishing into the night…


	3. Ch3 EnemiesAllies?

HLJ

_Author's Notes:_

Hi everyone, and welcome to chapter 3 of _X-tamers: New Mutants_. I'm sorry this took so long, but I'm hoping to update my stories quicker now, so keep watch. Have a good time folks.

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, X-men: Evolution, or the Muppets. I'm also not sure what that last one has to do with this, though I do wish I could get those two Balcony guys to do some commentary on my stories. Also, all original concepts, characters, and storylines are the author's work and do require permission before they can be used by other.

_Now, on with the show_…(cue cool theme song)

New Mutants – Enemies/Allies?

It was nighttime over Bayville, and the X-men were resting after their first battle with the Brotherhood's newest member. The clock struck three, and Kitty shot up in bed, clutching her sheets tight, her knuckles white. She got up and ran to the bathroom, phasing right through the door in her rush. She grabbed some medicine for her pounding headache and took it, sitting down and clutching her head; breathing deeply.

She had felt terrible ever since Kurt had teleported her and the two Brotherhood members out of the factory, and the headache was just the latest in a series of appearing and disappearing symptoms. Like the others, the headache soon vanished, and she got up and ran the cold water, splashing it on her face. She reached for the handle to turn the water off, only for her hand to phase right through it.

"_I didn't do that_," thought Kitty, before she reached forward again, this time feeling the cold metal of the handle and shutting it off. She turned to walk through the door and back into the hallway, only to smack into the wood and bounce back.

"What's happening to me!" she shouted, opening the door and running into the hallway, trying to reach Professor Xavier's room before her powers activated again.

Vvvvv

Professor Xavier had assembled the group who had fought at the factory to find out what exactly had happened.

"And then I teleported Kitty and Toad out," said Kurt, finishing his side of the story.

"Is that all, nothing odd happened?" the Professor asked.

"The vas one thing," said the boy, rubbing sleep from his eyes, "Ven I bamphed, I actually saw something in between the jump. It was like a desert, and there were these veird rocks, they looked like satellites." At this last part, the Japanese mutants sat up straighter and glanced at each other, silently agreeing to discuss this when they weren't in the middle of an emergency.

"Actually, there were four of us," said Kitty, who was sitting in a chair, squeezing tightly on the arms and trying to make sure everything remained solid, "You transported the new girl too."

"Maybe that has something to do with it," said Henry, rising to his feet.

"Both you and Rika can teleport," he said to Kurt, "So maybe she tried to teleport them away at the same time you did."

"Why would she try to do that," said Scott, "I thought she'd just get Toad and get out."

"Rika's…complicated," said Henry, "Whatever's going on, she's not as bad as she seems."

"It's possible that the reaction of your powers may have affected Kitty's molecular stability," said the Professor, after mulling over Henry's theory, "But Kenta's powers could fix the problem." He was referring to the boy's mutant ability, which was simply to heal, apparently taken from his partner's healing heart-bubbles.

"I'll get him," said Kazu as he got up and rushed to the room he shared with the boy.

"Um…guys," came Kitty's voice, and they turned to see that she was beginning to pass through the chair she was sitting in, "I don't think I can stop it this time! Help!" She fell through the chair and sunk straight through the floor like it was water.

"Kitty!"

Vvvvv

"Lance, Rika!" Takato pounded on the door of the Brotherhood House, "Open the door! Get Up!" He and Kurt had teleported to the House and were pounding to get the teens up. The rest of the X-men were awake at the mansion, and Henry was working with a mutant named Forge to figure out some way to help their friend, while the Professor struggled to keep her calm as she continued descending.

"Takato!" came Rika's voice, and he saw her leaning out of a window on the second floor, "It's four in the morning!"

"It's Kitty," he said back, "You and Kurt messed up her powers and she's in trouble. We need you and Lance to help get her back." The simply girl disappeared back into her room in response.

"We'll be down in a minute!" her voice called through the window, before the pair heard a crashing door and Lance's yells, followed by a brief rumbling through the ground.

"Bring Toad too!" shouted Kurt, remembering that if Kitty's powers had been affected, his might have been as well.

Vvvvv

The assembled mutants now sat in the study of the Xavier Institute, while the Professor began to explain what all was required for the rescue mission to work. They were there because of the device that the Professor was now linked into, Cerebro, which he had connected with to boost his powers and remain in contact with Shadowcat as she continued to descend. He had lost connection at some point while they were gone, but was able to regain it a few minutes later with this device.

"We will need to find a cavern for you two to make it to Kitty," he said, acknowledging Kurt and Rika, before turning to Lance, "Which is where your powers come in." He went on to explain that they would use Lance's seismic waves, converted through a device created by Forge, to search for a place for the two mutants to teleport to. Once they were there, they had to locate the spot Kitty would emerge from and place a device there that would temporarily solidify the girl and cause her to stop descending. However, they only had one shot, and they had no idea how long the device's effect would last, so they had to get this right. They were hoping that recreating the effects, a combined teleportation by both Rika and Kurt, could repair the damage done at least to a level where Kenta could begin to heal her.

Meanwhile, the boy was in the infirmary, attempting to fix Toad. The other mutant had been relatively unaffected, due most likely to the advanced healing powers that came with his mutation, but his powers were still acting strangely, which was what the teen was trying to repair, if the mutant would stop freaking out.

"I'm gonna lose my powers, aren't I?" Toad asked Storm, as he hopped around the room in a slight panic, sometimes losing his grip on the walls and falling flat on his back.

"Can I please tranquilize him?" Kenta asked, as he had been dealing with this for the past ten minutes…

Vvvvv

"Are you both ready?" asked Forge, as he handed a small metal rod to both of the mutants in front of him. Both were equipped with lighted helmets and masks, just in case they ran into any dangerous gasses when they arrived.

"Let's do this," said Rika, as she placed her hand in pocket, feeling the tools she needed for a plan of her own in it. She grabbed Nightcrawler's shoulder and the pair disappeared in a puff of smoke to the location they had picked.

The pair soon found themselves in a dark cavern, lit only the light of their helmets. They set to work, activating the twin rods, and they extended to connect with each other and form a ring, which began to light up.

"_She's coming through soon_," said Professor Xavier through his thoughts, flashing an image of where they predicted she would fall through. The two got on both of the rods and moved to the spot, activating the device as soon as they heard the girl yelling to get their attention.

The device activated, creating a glowing web of energy in the middle of the ring, which the pair tried to get exactly beneath the girl as she fell, before her semi-tangible body hit the web. It cast a bright blue glow which outlined the girl, before blinking out and the girl fell to the ground, hitting into it and not passing through.

There wasn't a moment to lose though, and Rika and Nightcrawler grabbed the girl and both teleported for a spot across the cavern...

Again, the process of teleportation seemed to slow down, this time taking even longer since they aimed further. This time, they saw a peaceful forest, with a river that ran through a short distance away. However, the X-men didn't notice as Rika dropped a sheet of paper from her pocket and hit a button on her D-Arc, whose screen began to glow.

Seconds later, the group reappeared in the dark cavern, Kurt taking a deep breath before teleporting them back to the mansion. They immediately rushed Kitty to the infirmary, but it was at least an hour before they could breathe a sigh of relief, her powers were back under control. The Brotherhood members took this as a cue to leave and disappeared into the darkness of early morning, each glad for their own reasons.

Vvvvv

"Kurt…" It was now almost seven in the morning and the blue mutant's only response was to roll over and continue snoring.

"Kurt!" said Kitty sharply; accidently pushing the mutant so hard that he fell off his bed, landing with a bang on the floor. This would have probably woken his roommates up if they weren't also exhausted from the night's events.

"Vat is it," he moaned, before seeing who had woken him up. "Kitty! Is something wrong vith your powers again? Should I get the Professor?"

"No," she whispered, and he saw that she was dressed in her battle outfit, with a flashlight at her side, "But I need your help." Even through the fog of sleep, he could detect the urgency in her voice, along with the pleading that would soon probably follow.

"Give me a minute…"

Vvvv

"So you think something happened vile you vere down there?" asked Kurt through the bathroom door, as he splashed his face with cold water.

"I keep like, having these flashes every time I close my eyes," she said, leaning against the wall, "I think I saw something, but I can't remember anything more than just some hallway and these weird eyes."

"So vhy are ve not telling the Professor?"

"I don't want to worry him until I know if this is, like, real or just some nightmare," said Kitty, "He's been through enough stress tonight with having to use his powers like he did."

"All right," came the response through the door, "Just let me get dressed." She heard the mutant's characteristic _bamph_ and waited until he reappeared next to her a few minutes later, dressed in his own uniform. The pair then walked to the spot where Kitty had 'fallen through' several hours before, the girl shuddering, before she took Kurt's hand and they began to descend.

It was silent during the trip, as the pair watched dirt and rock passed through their vision, barely able to see due to a lack of light. It was actually almost a half hour before Kurt felt Kitty tense and he felt his legs begin to solidify in an empty space, before the rest of the pair soon followed. They both collapsed to the floor, reeling from the effects of the long trip, but after a moment they could raise their eyes and look around.

The pair was in a dark hallway, lit only by dim red lights that were built into the metal walls around them. As soon as they could get up, Kitty switched on the flashlight, and the beam showed them that only one path was open, the other was blocked by rubble and dirt that had smashed through the ceiling above.

"Vat is this place?" asked Kurt as they began to walk down the hallway. They seemed to walk on through branching passages for an hour, picking at random, and occasionally getting stuck going in circles, before they finally managed to come to what appeared to be a door. Kitty grabbed her friend's hand and seemed intent to go through, when he stopped her.

"Are you sure you vant to go in there?" he asked, "You been right so far, and we may not want to meet vatever you saw that had '_veird eyes_'."

"I have to know," she said. Kurt nodded and she grabbed his hand, phasing into the next room.

The room itself was not that impressive, except for the thick panels that made up seven of its eight walls, the eighth being the door itself. Off to one side were the remains of a computer system, now mostly smoking parts, and in the center was an empty cylinder, which, though they didn't know it, greatly resembled the containment unit for the mutant known as Juggernaut.

"Like, what is this place?" asked Kitty as she looked around, echoing Kurt's earlier question.

"Look at this!" he called, and she saw that he was standing by the destroyed computer console, staring at its only working screen, all of which were in view of the cylinder. On it was a short e-mail message, staring back at them in a lighter green than the rest of the screen.

"_James_…" it read, "_Annie has arrived at the program, but she can use your help. She needs someone who can offer her as much hope as she does you. Keep fighting and good luck…X._"

"Who's James and who's Annie?" asked Kitty.

"I don't know," said Kurt, "I don't even know how old this message is." He went to touch the screen, to try to get some information, and was barely able to grab Kitty and drop to the floor as it exploded overhead.

"Ve should get the Professor," he said.

"You don't have to tell me twice!" said Kitty, grabbing his hand. The pair teleported out and soon reappeared inside the Xavier Institute. However, they were in for a great surprise.

Vvvvv

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and I hope you will leave a review. Also check my page if you leave a question and I'll try to answer it.


	4. Cauldron

HLJ

*Update to everyone: My beta-profile is now active, so if you want me to take a look at a story, just send me a message.

_Author's Notes_: Hello readers, both old and new, and welcome to the final chapter of _X-Tamers: New Mutants_. This last chapter appears along with the episode "The Cauldron – Part 2" and will lead to the next story in this series, so keep a look out for that. I hope you enjoy the story, and as always, please read and review.

Disclaimer: I own neither Digimon, nor X-Men: Evolution. All original characters and plot-lines are mine however, and permission needs to be granted before they are used.

And now, on with the final chapter...

_Cue cool theme music…_

New Mutants – The Cauldron

The main hall of the mansion was in ruins. Burn marks and cracks covered the walls, while windows and furniture was smashed to pieces around them. Kitty and Kurt looked at the mess, almost not believing their eyes.

"Vat happened here?" asked Kurt and they stepped through the rubble.

"Professor!" shouted Kitty, both out of worry and still wanting to tell him what they had just seen, "Storm!" Neither of them noticed as one of the hall's still intact statues above them changed shape, into that of the blue-skinned mutant Mystique.

"Is anyone here!" shouted Kurt.

"I am," said Mystique, as she leapt down and landed in front of the pair.

"No way!" came a familiar voice from where the doorway had been. The group looked to see that Evan, Toad and Kazu were standing there, while Kenta, Henry and Takato brought up the rear, all looking disheveled.

"I guess that means you're a loser too," finished Toad as he continued to watch Mystique.

"Don't ever call me that!" growled Mystique as she grabbed the boy by the collar.

"Vhy are you here…Mother?" asked Kurt.

"No one discards me," said Mystique as she shoved Toad to the side, "Especially not Magneto."

"Who's Magneto?" asked Kitty, "What happened here?"

"You missed one massive battle," said Wolverine as he staggered through the door, his clothing so shredded, it looked as if he had being fighting some wild animal.

"Someone start from the beginning please," said Kurt, still confused about what was even happening...

Vvvv

"Welcome Charles," said Magneto, as the man finally felt his wheelchair stop moving. After the Blackbird had landed on the mysterious structure of metal and rock that he was now on, Magneto had extended his powers to the man's chair, and guided him down to the room where he now found himself, the most obvious features of which were two round metal doors in one wall, and the three glass cylinders in the other, each containing a female X-men.

"What is this!" exclaimed the Professor, seeing Storm, Jean, and Rogue, "What have you done to them?"

"Relax Charles," said Magneto as he appeared from the shadows, the Brotherhood members who had won their battles standing behind him, "They are merely resting. They'll be free soon."

"Release them at once!" said the Professor in a far angrier tone than he usually used. He could do nothing to enforce this however, both due to his rules and the special helmet that Magneto wore, which blocked his powers just the same as the Juggernaut's.

"I will," said Magneto, as Sabertooth emerged from a side hallway, "But first we have some business to attend to. This grouping seems a little uneven." As he said this last part, he pulled a small medallion out of his pocket: an X in the middle of a circle. He turned and the object floated, carried along by his powers, until it settled in front of Rika.

"What's this?" she asked.

"I think you should show your true team colors," he said, and she noticed as the other Brotherhood members had moved to surround her in a half-circle.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play me for a fool!" growled Magneto. He then turned to Professor Xavier, "Though I must admit Charles, this was a good plan on your part."

"What are you talking about Eric?" asked the Professor.

"After Mystique told me about our newest member, I began to wonder; why would a girl abandon what appeared to be her best friends to join us. So I had my mutants begin to keep watch, and then had Quicksilver follow her on one of the late night trips she so often took. Do you know where she went?"

Xavier gritted his teeth slightly, and Rika tensed up, her eyes darting around the room.

"She went to your _Institute_," said Magneto, "And she simply passed through your security system, an easy task for someone with the codes."

"You've been spying on us the whole time," said Blob, cracking his massive knuckles.

Rika dodged the boy's bear hug and teleported out from the middle of the group. She reappeared in the air and took aim at the tubes above the other mutants' holding tanks, hoping to cut the knockout gas and release them so they could at least have an even team. However Magneto stretched out his hand and a cable came free from the ceiling and ensnared her. That however was not what focused everyone on the scene.

Instead, the girl let out a scream, like her skin had been scalded. In fact, she actually fell to the ground, and her skin began to shift, as if it were made of pixels, in and out. Magneto released his control over the cable, and the girl fell to the ground, her form slowly returning as tears of pain leaked from her eyes.

"Interesting," muttered Magneto as Quicksilver rushed over and shoved the girl into a glass container, which quickly filled with gas that the girl was suspended in, "Another mystery to these mutants."

"You've gone too far this time!" said Xavier.

"I was merely restraining her until I have a chance to clear her mind of those things that would cause her to betray me."

"Besides," he said, pointing to the doorway behind the Professor, "Some of your students are able to see what I'm offering as a true blessing…"

Professor Xavier turned to see two mutants entering the room. One he recognized from the images he had seen earlier in the day, Alex Summers, as his name would have been. And the other, was…

"Scott."

Vvvvv

The X-men and their companions were currently racing toward "Asteroid M" as Mystique had called in the XN-Velocity, a hybrid jet-helicopter that had been hidden underneath the Xavier Institute. Everyone except Mystique and Wolverine seemed slightly uneasy in the craft as it groaned under the pressure of high-speed flight, and they were not comforted after finding out this was its first test flight.

"Too bad we'll be an ally short when we get there," said Mystique as she continued to watch the radar.

"What do you mean," growled Wolverine, tense in case the shape-shifter would try to betray them mid-flight.

"One of _my_ students," she said, "Or should I say yours. Ms. Nonaka won her match, and by now Magneto has dealt with the little spy."

"She was a spy?" echoed from the voice in the back, while Wolverine simply mumbled under his breath.

"If you knew she was a spy," Toad called up, "Why didn't you tell us?"

"The others knew," said Mystique as she adjusted some switches, beginning to notice something on the radar, "We just didn't tell you because your _relationship_ with her, we couldn't risk our knowledge being compromised."

"Relationship?" blurted Takato, "What relationship?" Rika wouldn't be…dating him, would she? The thought passed through Takato's head, but was almost immediately thrown away.

"Picking up something big on the radar," said Mystique, "Asteroid M, 463 miles and closing." That would seem far, except for the rate at which the Velocity was going at which they would be there soon. At these words the assembled mutants began to check their equipment and suits, the question left for a later time.

…

Soon, the Velocity was in sight of Asteroid M, and they could see two figures on a small platform that would have been perfect to land on. Wolverine used the cameras mounted on the Velocity to zoom in and see who was welcoming them.

"Scott?" he said, seeing one of the strange mutants' eyes light up in his customary red glow. The pair launched a twin laser attack within seconds that struck the aircraft, causing it to begin to careen almost out of control.

"Hold on tight!" shouted Wolverine as he directed the falling Velocity toward the platform, silently urging the two mutants to get out of the way. They began to as the aircraft crashed onto the platform and chased them down a wide hallway, its wings stripped off. It continued into a huge room where it finally crashed into a wall, its tail propeller sending rocks and debris tumbling down onto the pair of mutants and burying them.

The X-men leapt from the craft however they could, Toad kicking open the escape hatch. He was followed by Wolverine, before finally a blue hand followed.

"Knock, knock," said Mystique, emerging from the craft.

"Mystique," said Magneto, as the Brotherhood members behind him took a slight step back, "You never could take no for an answer." The blue mutant leapt at him, delivering two solid kicks to his chest before he countered, sending her flying with a strike from a steel bar.

Wolverine meanwhile had sliced the power cords to the containers holding the other X-men hostage, before being bowled over by an upgraded Sabertooth.

"Rika," said Takato, as the Japanese mutants rushed to their friend, who was still recovering from whatever effect Magneto's attack had had on her.

"I'm fine," she said through gritted teeth as she stood up.

"You were really a spy the whole time?" asked Kazu.

"Now is not the time to discuss that," said Rika as a laser-blast cut through the rocks that had been trapping Scott and his brother, "Help the others!" She teleported away from them and reappeared just as Magneto was hurling Mystique around the room with a piece of one of the bases computers. She crossed her arms and unleashed a flurry of diamond shards, which bounced off Magneto's armor.

They did however, cause the mutant to change his focus to her, and he sent a small burst of magnetic waves at the girl, causing her to double up in pain again. She collapsed to the ground as the attack continued, Magneto's rage at being not only stopped, but also at the destruction of his base around him, beginning to come to light.

"Now you will know what true power is traitor," he said.

"Get away from my sister you freak!" came Toad's voice, and he slammed into Magneto's chest, knocking the mutant over and breaking his hold on Rika. However, this was not the biggest reaction, as most of the X-men paused for a moment, the word _sister_ on their lips.

Mystique took this moment to leap again at Magneto, who used his powers to strike her with a pipe that had broken loose from the ceiling. It hit with such force that she was sent flying across the room, past Takato and her fallen students that the boy was trying to wake up as the structure collapsed around them. The blue mutant finished her flight by landing in the Genetic Enhancer, from which a burst of energy emerged.

"Get out of my enhancer!" cried Magneto as he flew in after her, the door closing and sealing shut behind him.

This cry managed to awaken the two Brotherhood members, and they ran at the blocked exit, Blob using his power to smash a hole through the rock. Takato however, had tripped from the rumbling and shaking that was now passing through the collapsing structure. Pipes burst and rocks began to tumble from the ceiling, and one of the computers attached to the massive Genetic Enhancer exploded, causing the door to reopen. From the activated a machine a wave of radiation exploded outward, passing through the structure and the mutants within.

"X-men, fall out!" shouted Wolverine over the crashing around them. The group began to escape through the now-open passage to the X-jet. All of them except Scott, Alex…and Takato, who, being nearest the Enhancer had been exposed to the most radiation. And if the X-men had been back at the mansion, they might have seen Takato's D-Arc light up.

"Ahhh!" shouted Takato, and the X-men turned to see his body covered in a grid-like pattern, before flames covered it.

"_No way_," thought the Tamers, as they flashed back through their memories to seeing most of their partners doing the same thing.

Takato emerged from the flames with his eyes covered in the same red glow they had when they had first gained the mutant, as power had driven him out of control. Flames, covered his body and grew, taking on the shape of a dragon, before they continued to slowly expand.

"Takato!" shouted Rika, but she couldn't get closer, the room already beginning to heat to near-unbearable levels. The X-men gave a look back and ran to the Blackbird, getting onboard with Scott and Alex right behind them. The pair was about to jump on after them, the Enhancer's effect on their minds worn off, but the platform beneath them collapsed, sending the jet and the mutants tumbling.

The Blackbird managed to right itself as Scott and Alex joined hands, using their combined powers to slow their decent and land gently in a pool of water created by the ice they had melted. Far above them Asteroid M was consumed in flames, before a form was visible falling from one of the openings, followed by two metal orbs that vanished into the night sky.

"Takato!" shouted Henry and Nightcrawler was already on his way. The blue mutant teleported up to the falling boy and grabbed him, bamphing again seconds later to appear next to the now landed Blackbird.

"Ow, hot, ow!" said Nightcrawler as he dropped the boy, who melted a small hole in the ice where he landed. The intense heat had left burn marks across his fire-proof suit, but it slowly began to fade and he sputtered awake as the water in the pool touched his face.

"Look out!" yelled Jean from the door of the jet, as massive chunks of rock began to fall from the charred hulk that remained of Asteroid M. The Blackbird didn't have enough time to get off the ground with everyone and Scott and Alex looked at each, nodded, and aimed up, firing a three beams of energy that combined and burst through Asteroid M, sending it exploding outward where the debris wouldn't harm any of them.

"Let's get Takato back to the Institute," said Scott with his eyes tightly closed, both he and his brother's powers returned to normal levels. Jean handed him his glasses and the combined mutants boarded the Blackbird, which shot back to Bayville at full thrust.

Vvvvv

A few hours later, most of the X-men were safely in bed. Takato had woken up during the span, and they had managed to determine that his powers had been through some kind of upgrade due to the radiation, he would have to master them again. Of course, only the Tamers knew just what the upgrade seemed to be, and they had unfortunately learned about him having to learn to control them once more, as an accidental sneeze had send the group to the floor for cover.

Rika had remained on watch as the others went to bed, eventually nodding off in her chair from the long day she had been through. It was half-an-hour later when she woke up in a dark room.

"Takato," she said, finding that she was now lying on the bed. She stumbled in the room, finally locating the light switch, to see that the boy was gone, the only traces of him remaining were sitting on the nightstand. They were his goggles, their fire-proof coating dully reflecting the light, his D-arc, the easiest means of tracking him, and a letter, which she grabbed, reading the kanji.

"_To the Tamers and the X-men_," it read, "_I almost caused a lot of damage to you all tonight, and I don't think it's safest for me to stay near you, at least until I can control my powers again. I hope I can see you all again soon, but I'm asking you don't try to follow me. That's why I'm leaving my D-arc and goggles to you Rika, keep them safe for me…Takato._"

"Takato!" said Rika, trying to find a fire-alarm, something to wake up the mansion.

…

Meanwhile Takato was walking alongside one of the roads built into the cliffs high above the beach, occasionally glancing back the way he had come from, wondering if the X-men had noticed his note yet. He didn't want to leave, not really, but he felt it was a lot safer, especially now that he had lost control of his powers again, except now they were even stronger.

"Good luck guys," he said, as a pair of headlights shined into his eyes. Seconds later, a car pulled up beside him and the trunk popped open. A few minutes later another car passed, the road was empty.


End file.
